Commemorations marking the 50th anniversary of the end of steam on the Southern Region continue to capture the public imagination – with the Great Central Railway seeing a 33% increase in visitor numbers for its autumn steam gala, writes Robin Jones.
NEARLY 4000 passengers rode on trains during the Great Central Railway’s October 5-8 autumn steam gala, where the end of Southern Region steam half a century ago was the predominant theme.
The guest engines were Bulleid Battle of Britain Pacifics, rebuilt Sir Keith Park and unrebuilt No. 34081 92 Squadron.
![](https://www.mortonsdirect.co.uk/heritagerailway/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/11/HR-234-p74.jpg)
Added to that was debutant BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73156, which ran in the guise of Nine Elms locomotive No. 73084 Tintagel, following test runs after the completion of its long-term restoration from Barry scrapyard condition.
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In 1959, 20 of the class that had been allocated to the Southern Region locomotives were named.
The names were transferred from SR King Arthur 4-6-0s that were then being withdrawn.
Not all, however, went according to plan. The later-than-expected arrival of 92 Squadron from the Nene Valley Railway meant it did not enter traffic until the Friday.
Furthermore, No. 73156/73084 failed at Leicester North on the Thursday morning with brake problems and was withdrawn from traffic.
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